To: Patent policy working group
World wide web consortium
From: Jason Lee <jason.lee@mac.com>
Netcreations, Inc.
Developer, dotGNU (Free Software Foundation)
355 W. 41st St., Apt 5FW
NY, NY 10036
Re: Section 3, Item 3 - field of use restriction
Hello, I am writing to add my comments to those that are calling for
the removal of the 'field of use' restrictions wording from the
proposed W3C patents policy.
As a developer of software that relies on the Internet to run, my
livelihood depends on access to free and unrestrictive software. Day in
and day out, as it has been for years, I rely on the Internet and the
developers that work for and on it to provide me with free access to
quality tools that I would not find elsewhere. These tools, besides
being free, usually come with source code and are much more stable than
their commercial counterparts.
However, the freedom to modify and redistribute software should not be
just restricted to Internet related software. The W3C proposed patents
policy would jeopardize any software that would be developed for any
particular OS, yet incorporate 'compatible' protocols used by the
Internet. This coupling will allow compatible protocols to be usurped
by corporations looking to leverage their IP over the common good of
the Internet itself.
For example, Company A, a very successful operating system company -
the biggest in the world perhaps, could develop an in-house application
that used a modified W3c protocol to allow connections only to and from
its products. In time, as more and more users and companies used these
products, it is quite feasible that Company A could do a few things:
1. Prevent compatible implementations of various protocols to access
their proprietary applications
2. Use the 'advantage' gained by the sheer number of users and
companies to then develop applications and protocols specifically for
their platform, thusly, locking out any competition, innovation, or
compatible protocols/products from being developed.
On the flip side, there would be opportunities for other companies to
possibly do similar things to other available protocols and thus,
irradiating the 'free' Internet as we know it today.
The Gnu Public License prevents this type of situation from happening.
The GPL specifically mandates that all code developed under it can be
used and modified and redistributed freely as long as the source is
included with it. Companies may sell or give away their implementations
- as long as they include the source code as well and do not restrict
any other authors, companies, users, entities from doing the same.
In my opinion, this is what the Internet as a core infrastructure
needs. For a foundation that the rest of the world relies on, this
model ensures that everyone, all people, all entities, will have fair
and equal access to the life blood of what the Internet is today. I
strongly urge the W3C patent policy group to consider this when they
review Section 3, Item 3.
The Internet is the foundation on which my professional life rests on.
In order for it to stay that way for me and so many others in the
world, it is imperative that no one person controls or has advantage
over another. We should all be allowed to compete freely based on our
merits as contributors and not by how much influence we wield as patent
holder and intellectual property rights holders. I urge the W3C to
close the Section 3, Item 3 loophole by requiring that all software
written for it employ GPL or equal licenses. This will guarantee that
those pieces contributed will remain free and in the public domain for
the public to benefit from now and in the future.
Thank you for your consideration on this matter.
Sincerely,
Jason lee <jason.lee@mac.com>